Hold fast to your dreams

island of Lastovo

I have forgotten what it feels like to have all the time of this world on your hands, or maybe I never really knew what that was like. Maybe I’m too engaged with paying bills, with job hunting, with the process of over-thinking. It’s great to just let yourself go, and take the day as it comes. On the first day of our trip to Lastovo, I was both very excited in a positive way but there was a lot of nervousness lingering deep down in me. I was thinking ‘what should I do?’ , ‘Where should I go?’…I couldn’t relax completely. Then I got a useful piece of advice ‘Don’t be nervous. Just relax.’

Relaxing and letting go and just being yourself is not an easy thing to do. It took me one day to get into this slow-paced rhythm (not that my usual daily rhythm is all the frenetic). On the second day of this re-bonding -with – nature vacation I was almost fully enjoying the beauty of nature. It was an amazing experience to wake up in the morning and to step barefoot outside of the tent, to sip the morning coffee while sitting on the grass, holding firmly the cup of warm brownish eye-opener drink, and just allowing my body to slowly wake and prepare itself for the day ahead. There were two main questions that we would ask each other, first one in the morning hours and the second one in afternoon hours – it was the same questions – ‘what will we have for lunch/dinner today?

Nature is an amazing thing. In these 7 days, I felt completely reconnected with myself, my head was clear, my body felt liberated. I was happy, and I was aware of this. I would catch myself thinking ‘this is an amazing moment’, or ‘this is an amazing conversation and it will never happen again’. I was aware of the happiness, and I cherished the moment even more.

I have this branch of olive tree with me as a souvenir and a reminder of that feeling of complete happiness, lightness, fluent and easy movements, lightness of expression and story telling.

We caught fast ferry leaving Split at 15h and we arrived to island of Lastovo at 18h. I have visited the island previously, but the occasion was different and I didn’t get to enjoy nor to get to know the island that well.

This trip was only for pleasure, and I can tell you that this island is a perfect destination for those of you who are in search of solitude, silence, nature, exquisite sea food…perfect place for a rest (just be careful not to come in the time of jazz festival, sometime in August).

We took a taxi from Ubli, the island port, to Skivena Luka, place where our camp is situated. Skrivena Luka means Hidden Port, and it really is a hidden port.

The camp ‘Skriveni’ is situated 10-15 minutes from the seaside. Since the island of Lastovo is one of the most remote inhabited islands on the Adriatic coast, and place Skivena Luka is facing the Italian coast – you can even go for a dip in the open sea, that is if you are not frightened of the waves that splash the seashore and sea rocks that change their shape depending of the strength of the wave that splashes it. I didn’t have that much courage, so we choose the beach that was a bit hidden (that’s how the place got its name). Beach is a perfect hideout for boats , and it has everything that a tourist might need. There is a small cocktail bar, restaurant where you can have a yummy breakfast or a seafood lunch; there is just enough sun for those who wish to get tanned but also more than enough shadow for those who can’t bear to stand in the sun for too long.

This was my first camping and I loved it. It took one night to get used to the silence that resides in this place; the only thing you can hear at night is the wind, sounds coming from the olives that drop on the tent surface, and during the day there are so many crickets – tree tops are packed with them. If you happen to stumble upon one, it will freeze and play death. Their song is amazing and as the night approaches you can hear only the most persistent ones still singing – during the night they are still and quiet, but as the sun rises to the sky the crickets begin to sing their song again, so if you plan a holiday to Lastovo don’t expect that you’ll sleep long hours. Loud neighbour won’t wake you, but crickets will!